Hamilton rapper (and former RTT contributor) Emay and his DJ Blue Medina took the stage next. He was gracious, yet confident, rapping over unique beats that he had produced himself including the buzzing tracks “Isafril” and “Bakkah: History of Mankind”. His album Ilah is out Friday.

Filipino rapper Han Han performed with dancing group Hataw. The music was dance rap in mostly Filipino (with some occasional English choruses). Though most of the audience may not have known what they were saying, they definitely felt it. Plus, we had the pleasure of watching synchronized dancing, some of which including filipino martial arts!

Closing out the festival was a glittering set by Wavelength veterans Phedre, who told a lovely story of one of Hooded Fang’s first Wavelength memories. Sunday night’s performance was a family affair, as they invited friends to join them. Han Han, Casey Garcia, Lil Gae and Arowbe appeared as guest vocalists as April Aliermo and Dan Lee took on both vocal and production duties. It was their own mini party on stage and the perfect way to end an awesome weekend.

Wavelength 17 had one of the most special and memorable lineups I’ve seen so far. They set the bar in being one of the most inclusive festivals with their lineups. They don’t make the excuse that there’s not enough diverse bands (girls, POC, LGBTQ) to put on a festival, they go out and find the most talented of them.

About The Author

Tiana is the owner, editor and concert photographer of Ride the Tempo. She works new media in the music industry during the day and also serves on the FACTOR, Polaris Prize and Prism Prize jury. Visit her personal blog at tianafeng.com.
Twitter: @tianafeng